Text:/ Christopher Holder

IN ACTION

Okay, so the system is designed to get into Soundscape – anything from ‘all in’ to toe in – how’s it look the afternoon of a show?

Jackson: As an example, a band arrives with a stereo show. The engineer soundchecks normally. After they’re comfortable, they might pull the lead vocal out of L/R, send to Soundscape, place it onstage where the singer stands. Instantly, they’re hearing the vocals localised across the entire hall. Next, they might put the acoustic guitar slightly behind and to the left. On drums: they can move the kick in/kick out mics in and out relative to each other without any impact on phase – Soundscape does all the calculations without any smearing.  The PA breathes; transients stagger naturally.

Dave: Soundscape recalculates time-of-flight for every object. What you see onstage is what you hear – everywhere. Audience members subconsciously mix for themselves because they’re seeing what they’re hearing. You want to focus on that guitar, you can. You want to hear ‘little Johnny’ in the second back row of the choir, you can. The PA disappears.

PA DETAIL

When the PA isn’t ‘disappearing’ it’s based on a L/R hang of d&b XSL, seven deep. If a client wants to run a conventional L/R show, they have a powerful and highly capable house PA, great for rock shows and more. Supporting the two-channel rock show energy are a pair of ground-stacked V-series point source enclosures with companion SL-Subs, which can run hard when desired. They can also be ‘feathered in’ to provide improved imaging in a Soundscape led mix – helping to bring the image down when used with the front fill.

Inside the L/R hangs are three clusters of d&b A Series loudspeakers (four per cluster), which provide the additional resolution for horizontal imaging in support of immersive audio and d&b Soundscape workflows.

There two sets of front fills, configured to accommodate stage pit changes (‘Pit Up’ for seating, ‘Pit Down’ for orchestra), ensuring consistent coverage.

The under-balcony delays – installed to preserve tonal consistency throughout the venue regardless of seating location – are also part of the Soundscape canvas.

An all-XSL design might have been ideal but not financially practical, but the XSL/A-Series combo provides a seamless result, according to Dave Jacques: “It could be problematic without d&b’s ArrayProcessing, which matches tonality and level across arrays. Here, the smaller A-Series arrays work perfectly for immersive because Soundscape spreads energy across multiple hangs. The big XSL left-right system still delivers rock ’n’ roll grunt when needed but tonality is consistent room-wide, so moving from traditional to immersive feels seamless.

OVERKILL?

You have to ask yourself: is a d&b Soundscape system like this a perfect match for the repertoire of a suburban theatre like Bunjil or overkill? Paradoxically, it’s probably the grassroots material that’s in most need of immersive. Community theatre, school musicals, and the like all disproportionately benefit from the extra sonic space. In some ways it’s the touring tribute bands and their ilk that might well dig their toes in the most – why risk messing with a well-refined show file? And this is the reason why the Bunjil Theatre deployment works so well. There is no risk. And this mid-cap council venue in the suburbs is leading the way in opening the eyes of regular sound guys/gals to the game-changing capabilities of immersive.

The cost? Jono reckons “about 30 percent more than a comparable LCR system.” He goes on: “The Bunjil tech staff had seen immersive elsewhere and lobbied hard for it. Then when the budget allowed it, it was more a case of ‘why wouldn’t we?!’. It’s now a marketing weapon: state-of-the-art audio that bigger venues use, attracting higher-calibre productions and setting Bunjil apart from every other council house in Victoria.”

Bunjil Place: bunjilplace.com.au
Factory Sound: factorysound.com.au
NAS (d&b): nas.solutions
TAG (Allen & Heath): tag.com.au
d&b Soundscape: dbsoundscape.com/global/en/